Case Studies.

Although Catalyst had generated promising collateral to include on its eventual program website, they required a logo, an identity, a fully designed & developed website, and complementary branding to advance the website and broader initiative.

Catalyst Connection, having collaborated with TrailBlaze Creative on its related education and employment initiative, Making Your Future, contracted with TrailBlaze to build on recent successes. Following a number of productive ideation sessions regarding branding, identity, and audience, TrailBlaze advocated that the tone and aesthetic of the website should be playful and geared towards a younger audience, particularly given the website’s planned use of embedded mobile video games designed to test grade school students’ skill sets in various manufacturing tasks and potential career paths. In the course of embedding existing (and creating new) collateral for the website, TrailBlaze also applied the campaign taglines “Industry 4.0” and “Manufacturing 4.0” to create enthusiasm among young, contemporary audiences, capturing the ways that major technological innovations including advanced robotics, IoT (Internet of Things), sensors, mobile services, 3-D printing, and data analytics, have come to redefine manufacturing skill sets.

In the process of designing and developing the program website, TrailBlaze assisted with the creation of lesson templates for use by outside educators. In addition to these valuable course materials, TrailBlaze generated other initiative collateral, including identity sheets, factoid sheets, and a matrix used internally to gauge the impact of the Explore the New Manufacturing initiative in conjunction with Catalyst’s other career education initiatives like Making Your Future. After increasing access to resources for educators and students, TrailBlaze developed internal pages designed for parents, featuring links to educational videos, articles, and a “Training Map,” which presents a wide range of training centers, career centers, community colleges, and universities equipped to empower students on their path towards choosing a rewarding career in manufacturing. The branded campaign and website also served as a valuable gateway: leading students, educators, and parents to explore Catalyst’s related educational and workforce initiatives like Making Your Future.

As a result of collaborating with TrailBlaze Creative, Catalyst Connection’s Explore the New Manufacturing campaign developed a compelling, user-friendly website hosting its new and preexisting collateral while successfully appealing to a younger audience interested in manufacturing careers. To date, Explore the New Manufacturing has received more than 30 requests from secondary school instructors and administrators seeking to use the manufacturing-related lesson plans TrailBlaze generated on behalf of the initiative. Additionally, embedded website features like required account creation for use of the resource library have increased data capture, audience assessment, and understanding of visitor demographics. With website access and visits to the Explore the New Manufacturing web pages increasing, more students, educators, and parents are directed to Catalyst Connection’s related educational and workforce initiatives, allowing visitors to benefit from the cumulative resources TrailBlaze and Catalyst have developed.

TrailBlaze continues to host and maintain the campaign website, making adjustments as needed to facilitate greater connections to other in-progress Catalyst initiatives and to respond to the evolving needs of the initiative.